Man of Steel: Our likes and dislikes

Our buddy Eric wrote a great review of Man of Steel this past weekend. Check that out if you haven’t yet. If you have not yet seen Man of Steel, my first question might be, what’s wrong with you?!? But, however unfathomable it may seem, Supes isn’t everyone’s top priority. If you do plan to see it soon, do yourself a favor and DO NOT READ THIS!!! As the title implies, we’re going to discuss some details about the movie, some of them being major spoilers. C’mon back and weigh in after you have seen it. If you’re among the many who combined to spend over $150 million to see Man of Steel in it’s opening weekend, we’d love to read your likes and dislikes as well! Feel free to comment below.

Tres

Like: Clark has true struggle in adhering to his father’s greatest wish: remain a secret. You see the anguish on his face every time he struggles with this issue. Do I hit the bully? Do I hit the drunk? Do I save the oil rig workers? Do I save my dad? He and Lois have a heart to heart at JK’s gravesite to discuss this very issue. This inner turmoil has always been skimmed over in previous Superman movies. Man of Steel showed us how much Clark truly struggles with the idea of going against his dad’s wishes, breaking this one final tribute to the man who raised him. I like seeing that struggle and that humanization of Superman. It’s a great personal aspect to add to such an action packed movie.

Dislike: The dislike that I’m choosing to discuss is one that several will probably overlook due to it being a comic book story line issue. Johnothan Kent was the loving and adoptive father of Kal El/Clark Kent. The situation surrounding his death in origin is one of a simple heart attack. Clark was late for getting home from school and found his father dead in the drive from a heat attack. For he rest of his life he ponders, ” What if I had come straight home?” “What if I ran and carried him to the hospital?” With all of these great powers, why couldn’t I save him?” In Man of Steel he was “forced” to stand by and watch his father die. This was preventable. He could have saved him. This is an unnecessary strain put on Clark for a life time of regret. In the originals he simply had to ponder why and what if with a natural death. In Man of Steel he has a lifetime of regret because he allowed him to die.

Elliott

Like: I’m not a big Superman fan. Actually, I hadn’t seen any of the prior movies and knew very little about Superman or his back history. I feel like they did a great job of making this accessible to a non fan boy.

Dislike: There is very little humor/fun in the movie. The movie has a serious, darker tone, similar to its sister movies (Batman Trilogy). Considering Christopher Nolan was involved, this isn’t all that surprising. It’s something that sets DC apart from Marvel and for me makes Marvel movies more enjoyable and appealing.

Gene

Like: I love the larger role given to Clark’s earthly father, Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner). In the comics and in the TV adaptation Smallville, JK has a huge role in Clark’s life. However, we’ve never seen that impact on the big screen. Man of Steel finally rights that wrong and delivers a much more emotional, albeit somewhat unbelievable death scene for Jonathan Kent.

Dislike: I think the “reveal” scene when Kal-El meets the holographic consciousness of Jor-El (Russel Crowe) was poorly executed. You don’t even get a fortress of solitude, you get a millenia old, crashed, scout spaceship. It felt very rushed and I think more time should have been spent in this moment of Clark’s discovery of who he is. On top of that, since when is your conscience a material item that can be transferred from one being to another? Seems to me this is a confusion of a person’s conscience and their memories.

Logan

Like: Kal-El didn’t “just happen” to have integrity. He chose it. Flashbacks of his youth (and even a scene in the present) show him being abused and mistreated, but he never strikes back, even though he tells his father (Jonathon Kent) “I really wanted to hit him.” We can all choose the right thing.

Dislike: I despise deception. Included in deception is saying “Hey, the conflict is over, he’s kissing the girl, all is fine and dandy!” Then the villain pops up and they fight for another ten centuries. That happens. And it’s annoying. And it’s long. And annoying.

John

Like: One thing I really liked about Man of Steel was the approach they took on telling the overall story. I liked how we weren’t bored to death by a linear storyline, and instead they gave us bits and pieces of the story that were pertinent, in the form of “flashbacks.”

Dislike: I don’t think I’m alone with my main complaint about the movie: the fight scenes. I found myself getting almost bored with the lengthy, drawn out fight scenes. This was a problem a couple if times during the film, but I was especially not fond of the last fight sequence. Way too overdone in my opinion.

***An extra bit from Tres regarding the move to have Superman kill Zod***

I’m torn between a like and a dislike. Superman doesn’t kill: it’s a definitive rule of his. It’s hard to be a Superman fan and sit back and watch him kill. Now comic book fans from the 90’s will recall that he did kill Doomsday in The Death of Superman for the very reason Zod was killed in Man of Steel: he was going to kill everyone and he was never going to stop. If Superman didn’t kill, who would stop him? Who could? Not killing Zod when in that predicament would mean that every person killed by Zod from that point on would be in direct consequence of his decision to spare him if he had. Previously Zod has been sent back to the Phantom Zone: which could have been written into the story line here. I won’t pretend to know why it was written with Superman doing the one act he has always sworn not to do, but it was.
I can’t call it a like or dislike because I truly waiver: I dislike it because it totally redefines who Superman is and always has been. However, if Zod remained on Earth I don’t see how it could have ended any other way. Why make more innocent people suffer simply because he doesn’t want to cross that line.

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2 comments on “Man of Steel: Our likes and dislikes”

SUPERMAN SHOULD NOT HAVE LET HIS FATHER DIE!!! I waver on the killing Zod thing. And alone I might have accepted it. But on top of letting Jonathan die… it’s too much. Letting him die is a betrayal of the character.

I’m kinda with you there, Shaun. Just seems unlikely too, that he would just stand there and watch it happen. ALTHOUGH, it still says a lot about his character to obey his fathers command even in such an extreme situation.